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Welcome to a fresh night of exciting European Cup soccer. 9 fixtures are set for this evening, with three English clubs in action. The Blues meet Barcelona in the marquee match of the evening, whilst Newcastle visit Marseille and City host Bayer Leverkusen.

Current Standings

It's the midway stage of the group stage, so the table is starting to take shape. All six British sides are currently in the upper twelve, but there are only two pts separating 5th and 16th position, so there's a sense of snakes and ladders about the whole thing. All remains open.

Match Schedule

These are tonight’s fixtures, each starting at 8:00 PM except where noted:

• Ajax 0-1 Benfica (17:45)
• Galatasaray 0-0 Union SG (5.45pm)
• Bodo/Glimt v Juventus
• Barcelona take on Chelsea
• Dortmund v Villarreal
• Man City v Leverkusen
• Marseille v Newcastle
• Qarabag play Napoli
• Slavia Prague v Athletic Bilbao

Squad Updates

Fofana, Moises Caicedo, Alejandro Garnacho, Gusto and Estevao are included in the Blues side. Dropped are Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap.

Yamal is in the starting lineup for Barça; Marcus Rashford is on the bench.

Chelsea (possible four-three-three) Robert Sanchez; James, Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Gusto, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez; Estevao, Neto, Alejandro Garnacho.

Substitutes: Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Pedro, Jorrel Hato, Leo George, Acheampong, Guiu, Facundo Buonanotte.

Barcelona (probable four-two-three-one): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong; Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Torres; Lewandowski.

Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Diego Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Marc Casado, Gerard, Dani Olmo, Bernal, Dario Fernandez, Roony Bardghji.

Referee Vincic (Slovenian).

Historical Context

The sole past encounter between Newcastle and Marseille was the Europa League semi-final of 2003-04, claimed by an rising star from Côte d'Ivoire. Manchester City and Bayer Leverkusen have not faced each other previously. Barcelona and Chelsea have a notable history.

Initial Game Reports

Just one goal during the opening period of the two early games. Dahl's 6th-minute goal has earned Jose Mourinho’s Benfica a one-nil lead at the Dutch side.

Newcastle’s Trip to Marseille

Although Newcastle arrived in the south of France fresh from their confidence-boosting two-one home Premier League victory against Manchester City on Saturday, and having defeated Union SG, the Portuguese side and Athletic Bilbao in the European Cup, their only away victory since early April came in Brussels at Union Saint-Gilloise.

It's not that Eddie Howe was overly keen to talk about the psychological aspect of this away form issue. “The European Cup is distinct from domestic games,” said the coach, whose side are sixth in the European table, with 9 points from a available 12 and direct progression to the last 16 almost within touching distance. “I am not sure if you can compare them.”

We have a separate live blog for Chelsea v Barcelona. Murray, the minute-by-minute equivalent of Diego Maradona is on duty for that.